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Belsavis
Belsavis, also known as Plawal, is a fictional planet within the Star Wars universe. It is also one of the many planet settings for storyline in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The planet is primarily a frozen wasteland but has pockets of temperate climate scattered across the surface within tropical rift valleys formed by local volcanic activity. Astrographical Information Region: Outer Rim Territories Sector: Ninth Quadrant, Bozhnee Sector System: Belsavis System Suns: 2 Orbital Position: 7 Moons:3 Grid Coordinates: L-18 Trade Routes: Belsavis Run Rotation Period: 25 Standard Hours Orbital Period: 412 Local Days Physical Information Primary Terrain: Ice, Snow, Tropical rift valleys, Glaciers Points of Interest: Belsavis Prison, The Tomb, Caves of the Primevel Wardens, Eternity Vault, Section X, Aurora Cannon Societal Information Species: Mluki (native), Rakata (formerly), Humans, Esh-kha Primary Language(s): Galactic Basic Standard Affiliation: Infinite Empire (formerly) Sith Empire, Old Republic Flora •Starblossoms •Lipanan •Sweetberries •Aphor Trees •Orchids •Hanging Moss •Spider Plants •Shalamans •Ferns •Wookie-beards Fauna •Acklay •Baspoor Glider •Bogwing ~Gundark •Terentatek •Kintan •K'lor'slug •Lobel •Lurker •Mauler •Muckwing •Primeval Hunter •Rancor •Skinflayer •Tuk'ata •Varactyl •Vine Cat •Vrblther History "Officially, Belsavis is a sparsely populated, Republic world dominated by arctic plains. Its only notable feature is the rare tropical rifts that break up the expanses of ice, heated by natural geothermal vents and home to a surprising diversity of plant life. In truth, Belsavis is an ultrasecure prison colony established by the Republic. Until recently, the prison’s existence was top secret, but its discovery by the Empire has resulted in rumors spreading throughout the galactic underworld. The prison is now in a state of lockdown, and both Republic and Imperial militaries have a presence on the scene." ~Codex Entry The Republic's knowledge of Belsavis predates the Great Hyperspace War, but for centuries the planet warranted little attention. With the exception of some unusual volcanic activity, the planet was deemed, in all ways, unremarkable. Belsavis was added to the star charts then summarily dismissed as nothing more than another curiosity of the Outer Rim. At some unknown point in the past, the planet became one of the many worlds that belonged to the Rakata Infinite Empire. During that time, the Rakata made use of the world as a prison colony, where they placed many dangerous prisoners that remained trapped for the millennia. The planet entered an ice age around 5000 BBY. Fifty years ago, while investigating the planet’s tropical rifts that seemed to defy the ice shelves in completely unnatural ways, Republic scientists stumbled upon an ancient prison constructed by the Rakatan Empire, better known as the Infinite Empire. Behind the force fields and unbreakable metals were the most notorious prisoners in the galaxy, including the Dread Masters. The Republic's efforts to explore and secure the dilapidated network of vaults were impeded by ferocious alien species and nearly unstoppable droids. Realizing it was only a matter of time before the vaults and stasis chambers containing the worst of these prisoners failed, the Republic committed a force to maintain the complex and establish a new Republic prison on Belsavis’ unused surface. In secret Strategic Information Service meetings, it was decided that this new prison, dubbed “the Tomb”, was only to be used in cases where execution was impractical or impossible. Once the Great War erupted, the Tomb’s population rapidly increased. Mandalorians, Sith Lords, and creations of Sith alchemy were sent to Belsavis for containment. As rumors of the Tomb’s existence spread, Imperial Intelligence began searching for the legendary super prison. Despite Republic efforts to keep its location a secret, the Empire learned of the operation on Belsavis and sent strike teams to liberate all the imprisoned Sith. In the short time since the Imperials arrived, the prison grounds have been transformed into a labyrinth of battle and chaos. Extraction of the those loyal to the Empire would not be easy, but rumors are spreading of the Emperor's Wrath, Darth Nox, Great Hunt winners, and top Imperial Agents infiltrating the Republic forces and breaking their comrades from their chains. Creation and Development "We found Belsavis, and the Holocron said it's a giant ice planet with volcanic craters that create jungle areas deep in enormous shafts in the middle of this ice world. I thought, OK, we're using that world!" ~Daniel Erickson (Parisi & Erickson, 2011) Belsavis was originally used as a setting for Barbra Hambly's 1995 novel, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Jedi The Children of the Jedi]. The novel featured Luke Skywalker and Han Solo racing to save the spouses and children of the original Jedi. Belsavis is the planet where these “children of the Jedi” are hiding from the Empire (Hambly, 1995). After this initial appearance, Belsavis was mentioned in several other works in the expanded universe. Two of these references are found in the two novels immediately following The Children of the Jedi, Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson (Anderson, 1995) and Planet of Twilight by Hambly (Hambly, 1995, 1998). Despite this precedent, no Star Wars book after The Children of the Jedi used Belsavis as a major setting. Belsavis seemed doomed to complete obscurity until March 2010, when it was introduced into Star Wars: The Old Republic – a massive, multiplayer, online, roleplaying game (MMORG) created by EA Games and Lucasfilm (Barrik)(Fritz & Pham 2012). At the time Star Wars: The Old Republic was only available in the Betamax format and wouldn’t be released to the general public until December 20, 2011, almost two years later ("Launch Date for Star Wars: The Old Republic Announced," 2011). Creating Star Wars: The Old Republic was an incredible undertaking, costing almost $200 million dollars before launch and exploring almost every aspect of the Star Wars universe (Fritz & Pham, 2012). In the game the story of Belsavis was expanded. Belsavis became a maximum-security prison used by the Republic. Details about native life on Belsavis before the events of The Children of the Jedi were created at this point. Relationship to Prequel Trilogy When the prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, many parts of the Star Wars Expanded Universe were impacted. Among them was the story of Belsavis in The Children of the Jedi. When the prequels established that Jedi could not be married or have children, Belsavis could no longer be the place where these spouses and children were exiled. One Star Wars anthology resolved this by changing the children of the Jedi to trainees who escaped the Empire (Wallace, 2002). References http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Belsavis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatooine http://swtor.wikia.com/wiki/Belsavis http://swtor.gamepedia.com/Belsavis http://www.swtor.com/holonet/planets/belsavis http://www.swtor-spy.com/codex/belsavis-codex-entries/34/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchidaceae http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_moss http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophytum_comosum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern Anderson, K., J. (1995). Dark Saber. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Barrik, M. (2010). SWTOR.com Rolls Out the Planet Belsavis. From http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/SWTORcom_Rolls_Out_The_Planet_Belsavis_130085.asp?format=1 Fritz, B. P., & Pham, A. (2012). Star Wars: The Old Republic: The story behind a galactic gamble. From http://herocomplex.latimes.com/games/star-wars-the-old-republic-the-story-behind-a-galactic-gamble/ - /0 Hambly, B. (1995). Children of the Jedi. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Hambly, B. (1998). Planet of Twilight. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Launch Date for Star Wars: The Old Republic Announced. (2011). From http://www.swtor.com/info/news/news-article/20110924 Parisi, F., & Erickson, D. (2011). ''The art and making of Star Wars: the Old Republic. ''San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC. Wallace, D. (2002). ''Star Wars: The new essential guide to characters. ''New York, NY: DK Publishing.